


The Man in the Moon and the Space Spiders

by kathkin



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963)
Genre: Gen, space dorks in space, talking about space
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-28
Updated: 2015-09-28
Packaged: 2018-04-23 20:56:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4891963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kathkin/pseuds/kathkin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>I’m not used to not knowing things. I thought I knew everything, but more and more lately I’ve been realising I hardly know anything at all, and – he makes me feel like a child sometimes.</i> In which Zoe is at least 98% sure there's no such thing as space spiders</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Man in the Moon and the Space Spiders

“It’s a bit like a watchtower.” Jamie turned slow circles in the middle of the station. “Aye?”

“It’s not a watchtower,” said Zoe. “It’s a teleport relay station.” Though she saw the resemblance. The chamber was taller than it was wide, with a vaulted ceiling like a church. Along one wall there was a row of teleport pads. Adjacent, lifts led to the lower levels. Opposite was a line of what Zoe presumed were computer terminals, though they bore only a passing resemblance to any computer she’d ever seen. They were white-ish spheres that blinked gently on and off in standby mode. She’d tried touching one, but hadn’t been able to activate it.

The final wall was taken up entirely by a faceted glass window. Beneath it ran a low platform and a railing that seemed to her to be unnecessary. Perhaps it was there to provide psychological security. Or maybe it was a stand for the complex network of screens that rested atop it.

“I know what it is,” said Jamie, though Zoe wasn’t entirely sure she believed him. “I dinnae understand why you’d need a waystation for a teleport. Don’t you just – go?”

In truth, Zoe didn’t understand it either, but she wasn’t about to admit it. She improvised. “Teleports can only go far before the signal begins to break down,” she said. “For deep-space travel you need to break the journey or you could get scrambled.”

“Oh, aye.” He wasn’t even interested. “What’s all this, then?” He hopped up onto the platform below the window.

“I think it’s some kind of viewing point.” Zoe scrambled up beside him.

“I can see that.” Jamie rested his elbows on the railing. “Hell of a view.”

“It is.” Beyond the window, there was – well, she supposed it must be some sort of nebula, but she’d never seen the like. She could only compare it to a kind of twinkling spider’s web, hanging in space. It was blue, and at its centre it sort of – sort of wriggled, like a heat shimmer, but it couldn’t possibly be a heat shimmer in deep space. It was some kind of distortion, but the only phenomenon she knew of that could cause spatial distortion was a black hole and it couldn’t be one of those. If they’d landed this close to a black hole they’d already be dead. She’d ask the Doctor, but he’d taken the lift down to find the control room and investigate his strange energy readings. He’d told them to wait with the TARDIS and it hadn’t been long enough for them to get bored and follow him yet.

To distract herself from the disquieting gap in her knowledge, she began fiddling with the screen. To her relief, it turned on when she touched it. It was an information point, but not a very informative one. It indicated that the thing beyond the window was ‘The Blue Web’ and that this was Blue Web Relay Station, but provided no explanation as to just what a Blue Web was.

Jamie nudged her. “D’you think there’s some kind of space spider about?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Zoe. “Spiders can’t live in space. There’s no oxygen. And even if they could survive without oxygen there’d be no point building webs, because –” She glanced at him. He was staring at her with an expression of amused exasperation and she realised too late that he’d been joking. It hadn’t been a very funny joke, she consoled herself. “Because,” she finished lamely.

Fiddling with the controls, she finally managed to get the screen to do something useful. With a _blip_ it took its map and projected it onto the window as a network of greenish lines. Circles formed around distant stars and beside them an invisible hand scrawled names and numbers. Jamie stood back from the railing, slightly in awe of the spectacle before him.

“What’s all that?”

“It’s like a star chart,” Zoe explained patiently. “It labels all the visible stars for you.” The nearest two were _Zebedee_ and _RY.1276_ , neither of which meant anything to her.

“Where are we, then?” said Jamie.

“I’m not sure.” Zoe ran her finger across the screen, sorting through stars. “We’re in the Milky Way galaxy.”

“That’s home, aye?”

“Yes, Jamie, that’s home,” she agreed, not bothering to explain how big a galaxy was. A name on the star chart caught her eye. She tapped it and the projection on the window responded, highlighting a single faint star. “There.”

“Where’s that?”

“ _That’s_ home,” said Zoe. Jamie squinted up at the window, reading the words beside the star. _Sol_ , it said, and _Earth, Venus, Mars_ , and the distance in light years.

Understanding dawned. “That’s the sun?” he said. “It’s so small.”

“We’re a very long way away,” said Zoe.

“Aye,” said Jamie, marvelling. “Must be the first we’ve seen of it since –” He paused, thinking back. “Since that business in America.

“It must be,” Zoe echoed. Oh, goodness, that had been _months_ ago. She hadn’t realised. She’d been too distracted to realise how long it’d been since she’d seen her own sun, let alone set foot on earth. Looking at that tiny, faint star she felt a pang of homesickness, and from the look on Jamie’s face he was feeling it too.

“We’re very close by,” she said. “In the grand scheme of things, I mean.”

“You can barely see it,” said Jamie. He was quiet for a long time, staring up at the star. “D’you ever get homesick?”

“Not really,” said Zoe. It wasn’t as if she had much home to miss. “Do you?”

He considered. “No’ as much as I used tae.” He looked at her oddly. “D’you no’ have family to miss?”

Zoe clicked off the chart, letting their sun fade back into the star field. Jamie made a disappointed noise, but she was relieved. It made her dizzy. “You know, I don’t think we’ve ever been away from earth this long,” she said. “I’m sure we’ll land there soon.”

“Aye. Next time, probably,” said Jamie. He leaned on the railing, staring out at the blue shimmering web. “What’s that, then?” 

Zoe stared at the Blue Web till her eyes blurred, trying and failing to formulate a reasonable theory. “It’s called the Blue Web,” she started hesitantly. “And it – oh, I don’t know. I’ve no idea what it is. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

“Och, well,” he said. “I’ll ask the Doctor. He’s bound to know.”

“You don’t understand,” said Zoe. “Before I met the Doctor – I’m not _used_ to not knowing things. I thought I knew everything, but more and more lately I’ve been realising I hardly know anything at all, and – he makes me feel like a _child_ sometimes.” She let out a breath and looked at Jamie. She half expected him to tease her, but instead he was giving her a look of fond understanding.

“The Doctor doesnae know everything either, ye ken,” he said.

“I know he doesn’t,” Zoe said bitterly.

Jamie edged towards her down the railing and, gently, nudged her. “Hey,” he said. “D’you want to hear something that’ll maybe make you feel a bit better?”

“Alright.” Zoe tore her eyes away from the view.

“When I first met the Doctor, I thought the Man in the Moon was real,” he said.

Zoe stared at him. But for a moment she thought it was another bad joke, but he was serious. He was looking at her so gravely, and she couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. “Oh,” she said. “Oh, that’s adorable.”

“Aye, I ‘spose.”

“I feel so much better now,” she said, catching her breath. “Thank you. That’s wonderful.” She broke down into giggles, resting half her weight on the railing lest she fall over in her mirth.

“You can stop laughing now,” said Jamie. Zoe shook her head. No, she could not. “Aye, really. It’s no’ that funny.”

“It’s _hilarious_ ,” Zoe pronounced. “Thank you so much.” She wiped away a year. “What did you – where did you think he _lived_?”

“Well, on the moon,” he said. “Obviously.” He frowned. “I never really thought to question it.” He shook his head. “Och, I thought all sorts of stupid things.”

“Tell me more of them,” Zoe leaned towards him.

“Aye, and have you laugh at me more?” said Jamie. “No. You’ve had your fill.”

“Ohh,” said moaned. “What if I promise I’ll only laugh a little?”

“You’ve done enough laughin’ at me to last you all week.”

“You’re no fun.” Zoe clicked through the various pages on the screen. None of them explained any further about the Blue Web.

Jamie nodded out at it. “Maybe that’s where the Doctor’s funny readin’s are coming from.”

“Probably,” said Zoe. “I think it might be some sort of spatial distortion.”

“Aye, that.” Jamie stood up, pushing himself away from the railing. “Och, well. The Doctor’s been a wee while, hasn’t he? Should we mibbe go lookin’ for him?”

“I don’t know,” said Zoe seriously. “He _did_ say to wait up here with the TARDIS.”

“Aye, he did and all,” said Jamie. “But I’ve just got to thinking, he could be in trouble.”

“You’re right,” said Zoe. “He might need our help.”

“Straight away.”

“We should go and find him.”

“Aye, that we should.” As one, they turned and hopped off the platform, hurrying across the chamber towards the lift.

Jamie gave the Blue Web one last dubious look as they waited for the doors to open. “Are ye _sure_ about the space spiders?” he said, and this time she really couldn’t tell if he was joking.

“I’m absolutely sure,” she said.

“Aw,” he said, actually sounding disappointed, as if space spiders were something to look forward to.

Although, actually, given everything she’d seen lately maybe she ought to revise her stance. “I’m at least ninety-eight per cent sure,” she amended.

“Oh?” said Jamie. “So there’s a wee chance it could be space spiders?”

“A very wee chance.” The doors slid open. They stepped across the threshold.

“We should be on the look out, then,” said Jamie, poking at the touch-screen.

Zoe swatted his hand away and selected the right floor. “Yes. Just in case.”


End file.
